Why Have Faith?

 

As I rode in the ambulance the other day, I prayed, and my blood pressure rose in anxiety.  A small incident led me to check with Urgent Care, where an EKG reading was pronounced “most unusual”, and the techs there insisted I ride in an ambulance to the hospital ER.  NOW!

The ambulance EMT began to calm my fears during the ride, saying my EKG reading was not really that bad, “it may even be your norm, just a little different than average.”  After 4 hours of tests in the ER, he was exactly right, as the ER found a similar EKG readout which I had done in 2008.  This is my norm.  They’ll still run some more tests, but I did not have a heart attack, nor based on strong genetics, they told me, was I likely to have one (dad and his brothers all lived into their 90’s as did mom, and my cholesterol is very much on the good side).  They told me I needn’t have worried as much as I did.  

I didn’t have enough faith.

I think this was a lesson for me, personally.  Even if this were my last hour, there in the ER, even then I needed to have faith.  He said He goes to prepare a place for us, for us to be with Him for all eternity.  Death is not the worst; I/we need to have faith.

When things seem to be going bad (and every strain of Covid is worse), it’s hard to have faith, to trust.  We forget the parable of the Prodigal Son, who totally had no faith in his father and went off to do things his way.  But when disaster struck (as it inevitably does when we think we can go it alone), he turned back to his father in weak faith --- ‘maybe he’ll take me back”.  But he needn’t have worried.  He needed stronger faith, as his father was waiting, loving, and merciful.  He was always waiting there. 

Remember all the lepers Jesus healed.  They came to Him, and He healed them.  But, Jesus didn’t wander all around Jerusalem looking to find and heal all lepers.  If He wished, He didn’t have to even go to them, He could have healed them where they were (as He can heal us), but He didn’t.  He healed the ones who came to Him in faith. We need to remember that. We need to have faith, especially in difficult times.

I will be with you always, Jesus said.  We need to have faith in this promise, especially in the bad times.  He is always there, waiting with open loving arms, like the Prodigal Son’s father.  He is there for all eternity.

The priest this morning suggested we pray in silence for at least 10 or 15 minutes each day, to hear and feel God’s love, and feel how far we are from him.  The Gospel today had Jesus casting out a demon from a man; it was a spiritual healing versus the many physical healings Jesus performed.  It was a reminder to me personally that we need spiritual healings more than the physical healings done in any ER.  We need to not fear death.  We pray “Deliver us from evil”.  We need to trust that He answers that prayer, always. 

We are not alone in our trials, nor will we be in our everlasting joy.

We need to have faith.

God's Presents (Presence)

 

My birthday was last week, or as I say, it was another anniversary of my 29^th birthday.  I expected some cards and perhaps a call or two.  Since this pandemic, no one has actually been in my house for almost a year, and only a handful have visited at the door or on my deck.  I expected Monday to be just another day.

I knew something good was different and I felt uplifted when a special friend dropped off some gifts (and a cake, too!!) over the weekend.  I had received some cards (before and after the day, since Monday was MLK Day and no mail), but that was my expectation.  The porch visit and gifts and beautiful smile for me gave me great joy, joy words could not describe, but Monday brought more.

I received calls from relatives and close friends, and some once-close.  A former co-worker, who I hadn’t spoken to in perhaps 5 years called to wish me a happy birthday, and say he was back from his overseas assignment in Germany, and noticed it was my birthday.  He called to renew our relationship and “we’ll golf this summer.”  That was a shock.  Then a friend I hadn’t spoken to in over a year called, because “I hadn’t spoken to you in a long time and felt I should call.”  She didn’t even know it was my birthday!  And then a close friend called to tell me to not make dinner; she was bringing it over.  Later, she came by to drop off 2 dinners and a bag of presents.

And, as I said my prayers that night, I thanked God for the people He has put into my life, and their presents.

But I hadn’t yet seen what I presume was His present.

Tuesday morning, I opened my email and saw a late-Monday-night note from a local hospital.  It asked me to schedule my first Covid shot, which I had this past Friday.  The shot didn’t cause me any serious pain, as I read others felt, but I wasn’t surprised.  I mean, it was a gift from God.

- - - - - - - - - -

I’ve seen and heard many calls to use this lockdown time, this extra time we now have (or should have) to pray more, to establish a closer relationship with Jesus.  I, for one, certainly have been praying more.  I’ve not been visiting Jesus’ house, but I feel His presence at my house, more than ever before.  Although I speak common prayers, I also just talk to Jesus, in my living room, in my den, and in my bedroom.  I’ve made statues and pictures of Jesus and Mary more prominent at my prayer sites.  In the quiet of my home, I talk, and listen.  He seems quieter than when I was at His house, but there are days, like Monday, when He just seems everywhere.  I feel His presence, and presents, the whole day.

I don’t pretend to like or understand the events of this world right now, but I know in all these things He is with me, as I am sure He is with you, and all the people in my life.  It is my daily prayer, and …

Jesus, I trust in You,

Do Not Be Anxious -- Then and Now

 

I assumed the reason for the title of this blog would be in my first posting, back on June 15, 2009.  It is titled: “I Want to be Happy”.  Reading that posting, I found it never mentions the reason for the blog’s title, but the words seem to have implied it.  It basically says that when things are going terrible, bundle up your troubles and take them out to the curb like garbage, and Jesus will come and take them away.  You need to trust in Him, and not be anxious, especially in difficulties beyond your control.

I actually titled this blog “Do Not Be Anxious” because I had just (unexpectedly) retired to take care of mom, and I knew that many of my (now former) co-workers were worried about losing their jobs to downsizing.  The title was for me, and them, in our times of trouble.  This morning’s Scripture reading had Samuel saying in the night: “Speak Lord, your servant is listening,” and in it I saw a Scripture example reenforcing what I meant by the blog title.

In recent months, I’ve seen many people worried about this world, their world --- that includes my worries also.  I’ve seen some who have said “God told me this or that will happen; this is the end-times.”  Many of those people had connected their thoughts to some Scripture passage, and so it seemed to me that those might be words God might say.  Perhaps they were prophets?  (Unfortunately, I forwarded some of those notes.)  Last night, as I prayed on the internet with a large group of people, I felt good in the community prayer, until at the end the prayer leader mentioned some details of what we were praying for --- detailed things he “knew” were going to happen, and when.  That’s why Samuel’s prayer struck me this morning.  Samuel is asking God for His will; much of the world today, however, assumes His will or is praying for their will to be done.  It might be that God and man have the same goals --- good things --- but radically different means of achieving those goals.  God’s way is best; I don’t think we can assume we know it in detail.

Samuel’s prayer is not asking God to do what Samuel wanted done, it was asking God “What do You want me to do?  Tell me Your will, and I will try to do it.”  That should be our means to good ends also, our first choice of what actions we might take or pray for:  asking God what He would have us do.  And if something is beyond our ability to do (like fix the world’s problems), then we should trust in God, and His Mercy to help us in our troubles.

Jesus, I trust in You.  O Jesus, I surrender myself to You.  Take care of everything.

And then, do not be anxious. You can’t make all this garbage go away ----- nor can you assume a thoroughly worn out house is salvageable; perhaps it needs to be torn down and a new one built ---  one we will love so much we will forget about the old one.

Most of us can do little to fix problems of the world today, but we can pray (and perhaps fast) for God’s mercy in taking care of them.  And we needn’t pray how He should fix them; He knows the best way.  We just need to trust.